Little Theatre

1 Lincoln Street,

New Haven,
CT06510

If you look at the picture you can see the little circular hole which was the box office. The theater was an old barn. But it had great movies. It premiered most of the early Fellini films like 8 ½; it premiered the Graduate; and it got shut down for showing I am Curious Yellow and I Am Curious Blue (look it up if you are too young). Sampson and Spodick came up from the Bronx after WWII and their mission was to bring the art cinema to Connecticut, which they did admirably. Both are recognized by the National Association of Theater Owners as Pioneers of the industry.

I do not know if this piece of info from Boxoffice Magazine refers to this theatre or another. Was this place ever called the “Victory”?

from Boxoffice Magazine, April 23, 1938:
Victory Will Open with Foreign Language Films
NEW HAVEN – The Victory Theatre will have its grand opening as a minority-language and foreign picture house on Thursday, April 28. Molly Picon’s “Yiddle with his Fiddle” will be the opening feature, to be followed by “Green Fields” and a Greek picture which is being considered. Michael Tomasino is the operator.

hey all! Does anyone know how to reach the powers that be at the Little Theater?? I can never seem to reach anyone by phone…I would love to find an intimate and unique, and available space for performances!

Was here last night for the Sideshow and Animation Festival, Forgot to Laugh. Nice place. It’s small, but inside it feels cavernous. Original seats are comfy, there are 136 but there were extra chairs added, maybe 100 more.

The pedestrian plaza out front is great to gather, the inside lobby is small but cozy and the hallway on the left was perfect for the art gallery displays. When the display was taken down, the original pictures on the wall were left, depicting all the productions that had been presented there. The bathrooms are way in the back, there’s an upstairs with 2 offices and a large backstage area.

The auditorium is nice, with the ceilings being at least 25 feet at the apex, with a vast array of tracks and lighting, as well as extensive lighting on the stage. They had an in-house movie screen that came down on electrified cable in between acts. Seats were comfy, but the backs weren’t. Overall, a great place.

This theatre was mentioned in a blurb in last week’s New Haven Advocate. It said it was probably the most underutilized concert stage in town (you have to take out your own insurance policy to rent it). GuitartownCT Productions put on a show recently with legendary flatpicker Tony Rice for a series of bluegrass shows. The next show will be in November.

I attended this movie house periodically prior to its sad demise; There was never a regretted moment, and I’d much rather see a classic here than on a video or DVD. One of my memories was that at some time, someone wrote on an inside wall, “Strother Martin Lives” and everytime I would attend a showing, I would always look forward to viewing that anonymous fan’s statement. I wonder if it is still there. Maybe I’ll atend a New Haven film festival showing this year and find out. Incidentally, prior to the closing of YORK SQUARE Cinemas, the referred to their third screen as “The Lincoln at York Square” but it definitely wasn’t!!!

An article in the New Haven Register on June 29, 2005, mentions owner Robert Spodick reflecting on the imminent closing of the York Square Cinema and recalls the Lincoln, which he had also run:

Robert Spodick said, “Iâ€™m sad, thatâ€™s all. Iâ€™ve closed other theaters, but we always were moving on to something else.”

He and his former partner, Leonard Sampson, who died last year, came to New Haven in 1945 to open the Lincoln Theater. They specialized in foreign art films and revivals of classics until they closed the Lincoln in 1982.